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Alone in the pit, Akutagawa shuddered. The snakes were getting closer in each passing second, and for an unknown reason he could use Rashōmon to break himself out.
Snakes? How peculiar. How had Akutagawa even ended up in this situation?
The last thing he remembered was walking along the street and suddenly he heard loud, thundering footsteps behind him. Then everything went black. This must be the work of a rival organisation - or maybe the relative/friend of one of his victims.
The intercom in the corner crackled, fizzling to life. Was he in a… zoo?
“Akutagawa! We’re here to get you out!”
Ah. He recognised that innocent, high pitched voice of an all too familiar man.
Atsushi Nakajima.
Then another voice spoke.
“Hang tight, okay Akutagawa? The Armed Detective Agency is here~!
Dazai. Oh no. Why was the whole Armed Detective Agency here? This made no sense!
How had he gotten this pitiful that his previous mentor felt the need to rescue him? No, now was not the time for these thoughts, he cursed himself.
He crawled further back into the pit, cornering himself. A metal cascading door was behind him, shut tight. He tried to lift it, but it was firmly locked down. Even when Akutagawa used Rashōmon to assist himself, it would not budge.
Fuck. Was he seriously about to get killed by snakes?
What a pathetic death. He had assumed he was have been slaughtered while on a brutal mission, or maybe his lung sickness would have taken him out.
Not snakes. He had always hated snakes.
Why wouldn’t Rashōmon attack them? It was like she was refusing his orders, which the fact had never occurred to him that she might have free will. Or even sentience.
At any point he tried to cause Rashōmon to lash out at the snakes, she just moved in odd, smooth and swaying movements.
The angry, hostile hisses were deafening. Different members of the Armed Detective Agency were trying to communicate with him, but over the noise he couldn’t understand what they were saying. It also didn’t help that the speaker in the corner was probably decades old.
Once again, he attempts to order Rashōmon to lash the crowding snakes away from him, but she simply moved in an odd therapeutic rhythm. He didn’t want to calm down, he shouldn’t be calm right now!
But something clicked. The snakes encircling him stopped hissing and moving once Rashōmon swayed. He did it again.
He was fully dressed in snake at this point; as he kept charming the snakes with Rashōmon, he wasn’t attacked.
But Akutagawa was getting tired. It would be impossible to keep this up much longer. This took a lot of energy from him - the stupid detectives were his only hope.